Directed by Cristóbal Krusen
Screenplay by Cristóbal Krusen, Steve Colberg and Casper Badenhorst

Rev. Peter Lakota...John Kani
Gerrit Wolfaardt...Jan Ellis
Edward...Vusi Kunene
Jan Oosthuizen...David Lee
Celeste Wolfaardt...Liezel Van Der Merwe
Moses Moremi...Mpho Lovinga
Colonel Koornhof...Marcel Van Heerden
Hans Gerber...Reghardt Van Den Bergh
Gino...Gino Mingo
Sherly Brown...Lakita Garth
Uncle Sam (Moses' Uncle)...Chris April
Jake...Bruce Marchiano
Gert Wolfaardt...Marius Weyers

Produced by
Gary Wheeler .... producer
Fred Phyfer .... line producer
A.C.Green .... executive producer
Scott Minerd .... executive producer
Jayson Flowers .... executive producer
Jimmy Ervin .... executive producer

Original Music by John Sponsler and Tom Gire
Director of Photography .... Mike Downie, S.A.S.C.
Film Editing by Pato Corona

MPAA: Not Rated
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG

What's Hard to Believe?
 
Final Solution is about improbabilities. Paradoxically, it's also about realities. As presented in the story of Gerrit Wolfaardt, reality and improbability collide in the most natural of places -- the soul.

Skeptical or cynical viewers will find plenty to quibble with in Final Solution, directed by Cristóbal Krusen. The plot is set in motion by what may seem outrageous coincidences, and the tension is resolved by the story's "hero," Wolfaardt, behaving in a manner which our world tells us is unrealistic.

At the same time, the movie's screenplay, written by Krusen with Steve Colberg and Casper Badenhorst, presents an unflinching look at race violence in late-twentieth century South Africa. The movie also features South African actors in all the major roles, and it was shot on location in South Africa's townships. Most significantly, the movie is based on actual incidents from the life of the real Gerrit Wolfaardt -- once a violent, genocidal white supremacist who idolized Adolf Hitler.

Is Injustice a Reality?
 
So Final Solution tells us, yes -- the world is full of injustice. South Africa has been only one of innumerable countries through the ages in which supposedly inferior races have been subjegated, humilated and marginalized.

Final Solution is also truthful in telling us that these social ills are not trivial. They are debilitating, not only physically but psychologically. They create divisions that last for generations, and they create world views which distort even the best of intentions. They create a lust for justice -- a lust which often boils over into even more injustice.

But this movie is not really interested in merely telling us the truth about what we already know. It's interested in much more than that.

Is Justice Blind?
 
Final Solution is really interested in tackling a very difficult pair of questions: What kind of person would you become if you were subjected to the most extreme of injustices? And is there any hope of breaking the cycle of retribution that results?

The movie accomplishes this not only through Wolfaardt's story, but also through the story of another very real man: Moses Moremi. His story is actually incredibly similar to Wolfaardt's. Both come from an oppressed people -- Wolfaardt from the Boers, Moremi from the black South Africans. Both choose to right the wrongs of the past by taking matters into their own hands -- Wolfaardt through vigilante terrorism to which authorities turn a blind eye, Moremi through organized underground resistance.

This is a kind of justice which is particularly blind, as both will learn.

What's the Solution?
 
Wolfaardt literally becomes a changed man. Actor Jan Ellis demonstrates an incredible range in portraying both Wolfaardts: the young, thoughtless, violent thug of a law student; and the older, thoughtful, selfless peacemaker the real Wolfaardt has become. The difference between these "two" characters is startling, and it's not just the physical portrayal delivered by Ellis. It's also seen in the profound spiritual transformation which Wolfaardt experiences.

While there is a point in the story at which Wolfaardt is truly broken so that he can be made new, Final Solution also presents the reality that such changes are usually not the result of a single incident. They are the culmination of a series of small revelations -- like finding out that the things your parents or preacher told you weren't really quite true, or finding out that someone you admire doesn't much care for the blinder spots in your psyche, or reading the book which someone loans you.

Final Solution also demonstrates that if you're willing to ask questions -- if you're really willing to search for some meaning bigger than what you already know -- you may be confronted by something more powerful than your current way of thinking can handle. And it may just break you.

Is Forgiveness Realistic?
 
And so Moremi also finds out that there's something which wants to break him -- and that something is forgiveness. In particular, he finds out that Wolfaardt is precisely the kind of man that he's not prepared to forgive. In fact, Wolfaardt is the very direct cause of his own personal experience with injustice.

And this is where the rubber hits the road for Final Solution. Is it realistic for a former racist to return to the scene of the crime, as it were, and preach to the very people he beat? It it realistic for a white man to stand in front of an angry black mob in the townships and offer himself up as the substitute for the crimes of another? It is realistic for Wolfaardt to ask Moremi to forgive him for the wrongs of the past? Is it realistic for Moremi to do so?

Final Solution is not willing to settle for what's realistic. It wants to tell the story of what really did happen, and improbably so.

Is Reconciliation Possible?
 
The story of South Africa tells us that, in fact, yes, reconciliation is possible. It may not be realistic to ask for, or to expect, but it is possible. And South Africa's leaders -- like the makers of Final Solution and Wolfaardt himself -- are not at all ashamed to tell us what makes it possible.

It's not the indomitable human spirit, nor a triumph of the mind or will. It's not a willingness to pursue only what seems reasonable, probable or realistic. It's the willingness to take a gamble on the irrational, the improbable and the unrealistic; it's the boldness to step forward in faith and acknowledge that there is a peace that passes understanding.

There is a power that wants more for us than we can possibly ask or imagine, and that power has the ability to transform lives.

No Easy Answers
 
The final reality that Final Solution serves up, though, is the recognition that the path to peace is not an easy one. Nor is it a short one. It's also not one that we are all prepared to follow. Final Solution does not glibly ask us to recite the sinner's prayer and promise a rosy future in return. It simply and soberly asks, "Well, what about you? What are you willing to settle for? What do you really want for your life?"

If you're like pop-rock group Switchfoot, and you want more than "fine" -- more than "bent on getting by, more than just okay" -- Final Solution might just be for you.

This is not, by the way, a perfect movie. The pacing is a little sluggish at times, and the flash-back structure is a bit clunky. But these are minor quibbles for an ambitious, serious movie that delivers fine drama, tremendous production values and uniformly excellent performances while challenging the way we live.

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